TVET to be integrated in senior high

MANILA, Philippines — Technical and vocational skills training will soon be given to all senior high school (SHS) students, following the signing of a joint memorandum circular embedding the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) program of Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) in the revised SHS curriculum of the Department of Education (DepEd).

Representatives of the DepEd, TESDA, Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) signed the Joint Memorandum Circular No. 1 Series of 2024 titled “Strengthening Senior High School Curriculum and Delivery by Embedding TVET in Senior High School Tracks towards Workforce Readiness and Employability.”

Under the joint circular, the TESDA’s technical-vocational training regulations (TRs) will be integrated in all SHS strands or area of study.

In a statement, the TESDA said its TRs were “developed in collaboration with the industry, are aligned with the priorities of the National Technical Education and Skills Development Plan 2023-2028 and key employment generators.”

“By embedding at least one TR in every grade level in the SHS, a learner may earn two National Certificates (NCs). The goal is to make learners workforce-ready and become employable,” the TESDA said.

Under the current set-up, the DepEd’s SHS program is divided into academic track and technical-vocational track.

Only students in the technical-vocational track undergo skills training while those in the academic track, composed of three strands – Business, Accountancy, Management; Humanities, Education, Social Sciences; Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics – undergo 80 hours of work immersion.

The private sector group Philippine Business for Education had earlier said the 80-hour work immersion may be inadequate for private companies to consider the SHS graduates ready for employment.

“By embedding the TVET in the senior high school curriculum, the TESDA’s quality assurance system is put in place to ensure that the education standards in the senior high school program is relevant and aligned with industry standards,” a video briefer on the joint memorandum circular stated.

“Graduates will be globally competitive, trained, certified and job ready professionals,” it added.

Meanwhile, at the same event, the DepEd and TESDA also signed another Joint Memorandum Circular that would mandate a standardized assessment and certification of SHS students who complete the program.

“By standardizing competency assessment, we empower our learners to demonstrate their skills effectively,” the briefer stated.

Under the joint circular, all students who have completed the TVET program will undergo an assessment for free and if passed, shall be given NCs from TESDA, which they can use in applying for work.

The TESDA’s NC serves as official proof that the TVET graduate has attained a mastery of skills and competency in the specific training he or she had completed.

Currently, it is optional for SHS graduates of the technical-vocational track to undergo TESDA assessment, which costs P1,000. — Rhodina Villanueva